GeForce 7800GTX: EVGA's KO Edition

@ 2005/08/09

We were able to get our hands on the first 7800GTX that we've seen with a custom cooling solution, so instead of the XFX 7800 (which really is next on our list this time), we bring you our review of the EVGA e-GeForce 7800GTX KO. We've already looked at an EVGA card in this series (EVGA e-GeForce GTX), and if you've been reading our past articles, you know that we've chosen it as our top pick each time.

The previous EVGA 7800GTX that we tested comes factory overclocked, with a core clock of 450MHz and memory clock of 1.2GHz, yet it would seem that EVGA was not content to stop there. The EVGA e-GeForce GTX KO comes out of the box with a core clock setting of 490MHz and memory clock of 1.3GHz. It also sports a modified heat sink and a new look, a first for our 7800 series. We're excited to see how this card performs and overclocks compared to the other 7800s. It's safe to say that it should outperform the 7800s that we've reviewed so far, but we'll be seeing by how much in the performance section later on.

We'll also be talking a little more about the prices and warranties of these parts, which contribute partly to the overall value. One thing worth mentioning early on is that the older EVGA e-GeForce 7800GTX bundled with Battlefield 2 is back down in price to $500 at the time of this writing. It also looks as though EVGA's new lifetime warranty policy could give it an edge over the other vendors right now. We'll take a closer look at all of the prices and the warranties at the end of the review, but it's looking pretty good for EVGA right now.

Rest assured, we will be giving this card a very thorough testing, with benchmarks in Battlefield 2, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, as well as power load and heat level tests. We mentioned in our first EVGA review that we had been looking forward to getting our hands on this card, and we aren't disappointed. So, let's get started and take a look at the EVGA e-GeForce 7800GTX KO.

get a hold of this: "Warranty is something that we have not touched on much in the past. We think that this plays a role in card value, especially given EVGA's new policy. We mentioned in the last article that as of June 22, EVGA is offering a lifetime warranty for all of its cards. BFG also offers a warranty, but apparently, EVGA's is different in that it covers any damage to the card as long as it's not physical. So, for instance, if the EVGA card is damaged by trying to overclock it too high, or if lightning fries it because it was not protected by a surge protector, EVGA will replace it free of charge while BFG will not. MSI's warranty is only good for three years, with basically the same conditions as BFG. Depending on the user, three years may be longer than the "lifetime" of the card, but covering all but physical damage is a definite win for EVGA. Aside from power surge, overclock and heat damage, they'll even cover a failed video BIOS flash (we asked). You can find more information about each manufacturer's warranty policy at their respective websites."